Paul Is a Student in a New-York-Based

Paul is a student in a New-York-based school that is located in the Bronx area of New York. It is a Jewish school whose administration, and therefore, structure, is fervently Jewish, and it is a comparatively new school, dealing with a majority of Russian immigrants. Paul is one of the few American-born students and, therefore, conspicuous in his self-contained co-ed. class of 5 other individuals 3 of whom are Russuan born, and one other Ethiopian. Paul is out of place in another way too.

Aside from being the oldest in his class -- he is 8 years-old, the class is 2nd grade -- Paul's conduct is conspicuous and, with a record of teachers being unable to control him, Paul has spent his time being shuttled between teacher and principal. The problem with Paul, according to his teacher's diagnosis, is that he has ADHD. ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder with symptoms that are characterized by hyperactivity, inattentivity, impulsivity either singly or as a combination of all three.

Paul has them to a severe degree as combination. His behavior is certainly inconsistent with his developmental level. I suspect that Paul's problems are aggravated by the fact that he comes from divorced parents, his father was an abuser with an alcoholic past, and he is currently raised by his mother who spends her energies trying to hold three jobs together. Paul, therefore, is also a latchkey child.

My observations of Paul told me that he is an intelligent child who, aside from belonging in a higher class (but retained due to his incapacity to achieve passing grades), is frustrated with his current situation and with mining minimum motivation from the class material. Paul could be helped by counseling. As far as I know he is not receiving it -- certainly not on the school premises. The school, ill equipped and struggling, has two teachers that teach Paul's class of six students.

I observed the afternoon class that centered on 'secular' studies (i.e. science, history, geography, math, and English grammar / writing) and observed Paul for the duration of a week. I also observed Paul during his recess time and during gymnastics (basket ball) in order to be able to observe him during times of transitions. I noticed that Paul was a popular kid during recess time (he is naturally charming and a leader), but tends to take over during gymnastics at times grabbing the ball from others and ignoring the rules.

Ignoring the rules seems to be something that runs through Paul's conduct. If I had known otherwise, I would have thought Paul to be on drugs. Shifting around almost ceaselessly in his chair and, otherwise, passing notes to others or throwing them as tossed balls or simply standing up and strolling around the classroom, Paul is a constant aggravation to his teacher who seems to be unable to control him.

Repeatedly interrupting the class structure, Paul, when told to return to his seat, would briefly obey then loll there with feet on desk, chewing gum or resorting to some snack as back up. Paul does not seem to be a deliberately defiant child. When his attention is snapped up, Paul is docile and politely volunteers response. He is also a lovable child attempting, at times, to please the teacher. The teacher, for instance, told me that Paul sometimes leaves her small notes or sometimes flowers.

He apparently seeks approval and love. Unfortunately the teacher seemed ill equipped to deal with Paul's specific conduct and she had no assistant to help her. Whilst using positive reinforcement with the other children, making the lesson visual and appealing to them, and ascertaining that they understood it -- all without the help of technology for none was existent in the classroom - appealing to the rules or using positive-reinforcement and motivation indicators with Paul (which is what the teacher tried) did not help.

Trying to control Paul and class at the same time proved challenging for the teacher, particularly when the class was deflected by Paul's antics. Her goal as per Paul was to have him conform to class rules (i.e. preferably indicate interest in class material and minimal remain a quiet presence in class). The teacher was, at brief moments able to achieve the first (when her subject matter absorbed Paul or when she accorded him a mission). Most of the time she failed in achieving the second prerogative.

I noticed that Paul reacted positively to being selected as monitor for various duties -- he seemed to enjoy responsibility and activity, likely due to the fact that attention was.